Stephen King's "Cell": cyber-terrorism & the new apocalypse

In Stephen King’s apocalyptic novel Cell every mobile phone network in the world transmits a virus and everyone using their phone at the time either goes mad (often physically attacking those unaffected by it) or dies. The only people spared are a few who weren’t using their phones or, like the protagonist, Clay, didn’t own one to start with.

Cell shows how dependent mankind is on high technology, especially computers and mobile phones; think of all the damage the Stuxnet worm caused to Iranian nuclear power stations a few years ago. More recently there was the Heartbleed flaw and the hacking of eBay users’ accounts. Cyber-terrorists have weapons that traditional bomb-and-gun terrorists would kill for. But Cell is not just about our vulnerability to cyber-terrorism. It is also about people who don’t own mobiles and how they sometimes feel like second-class citizens.

Around eleven months ago, I opened the box containing my sleek, new Galaxy Mini -- my first mobile phone. I had finally left the technological underclass, which, in some ways was a relief since there are things you can’t do without a mobile, as I’ve found out the hard way. For instance, in December 2013 I tried to sign up to the “V.me by Visa” digital wallet scheme but couldn’t because the form on the Web page wouldn’t accept an application without a mobile number.

However, one thing that emerges after reading Cell is that we should avoid being so dependent on computers, mobile phones and similar devices. It could be our lives at stake here, so I’m going to use my new mobile as little as possible. I’ll use it only when I have to, not to play games on or use instead of a printed map. After all, you can connect the Luddite to the utopia, but you can’t disconnect the phobia from the Luddite!